The fruits of the labor from this year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival auction were celebrated in March when the Naples Children & Education Foundation, the festival’s founding organization, allocated a record $25.6 million to nearly 50 nonprofit organizations supporting underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County.
This community investment from the 23rd annual event includes funding traditional grants of $6.8 million and $11.6 million for NCEF multi-year strategic initiatives that fill fundamental gaps in local children’s services, plus another $7.1 million in funding for future grants and strategic initiatives. Since its inaugural event in 2001, the wine festival has raised about $269 million, providing more than 300,000 children with services and resources.
“We are fortunate enough to be able to contribute a record amount of money to the charities that we are supporting,” said 2022-23 NCEF Grant Committee Chair Harry Rose at the annual grant awards ceremony and reception March 20 under the tent at the Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburon. “You all represent something that is very, very special. You are at the top 12% of all the charities in Collier County. We’re very proud of that and we’re proud of what you do.”
This year, 39 organizations received traditional grants, in addition to 10 more agencies that help fill critical needs in the community by taking part in NCEF’s strategic initiatives focusing on the holistic well-being of children. Initiatives receiving funding include early learning, health care, hunger, out-of-school time and mental health care.
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